Biodigesters will help Rosendale Dairy handle manure from 8,500 cows

7:30 PM,
Nov. 5, 2013

Tom Sonnleiter, University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh vice chancellor for administrative services; Art Rathjen, president of UWO Foundation; and Jim Ostrom, one of the Milk Source partner, in front of the two methane biodigesters, each capable of holding a million gallons.

Written by

Harley Buchholz
Special to Gannett Wisconsin Media

With thousands of cows depositing thousands of gallons of manure daily, the owners of Rosendale Dairy knew there would have to be a long-range solution to handle all that waste before it is used as nutrient-rich fertilizer.

Not only are there strict large-farm regulations to be met at every level of government before spreading the manure on owned and contracted acres, there is a lingering problem of odor control.

Enter the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh and the UWO Foundation and a green energy program already in evidence on the university campus. An anaerobic digester was built there two ...